Matthew 1:22-23, Isaiah 7:14, Luke 1:46-55, Luke 2:1-7, Micah 5:2, Luke 2:8-11, Isaiah 9:6-7
When we turn toward Advent, the name on our lips is Emmanuel, God with us . So much in Christian faith relies on what the faithful actually mean when we say that name. Western Christianity has fo...
When someone promises us something wonderful, we can hardly wait for that promise to be fulfilled. If the promise is something good, we want it now! We really don’t like to wait. And yet the very best...
Sometimes, even if we're "doing everything right," life just turns upside down and we're left scrambling to find our footing. This is one of those stories. In Luke's gospel, ...
Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:2-4, 1 Kings 19:11-13, Luke 2:6-7, Philippians 2:5-8, Psalm 22:6-8 , Matthew 1:22-25
In this excerpt, Frederick Buechner shares a meditation on the vulnerability of Jesus’ birth: The child born in the night among beasts. The sweet breath and steaming dung of beasts. And nothing is...
Philippians 2:, Isaiah 7:14, Luke 2:1-20, Matthew 1:, Colossians 3:10, 1 John 3:1, 2 Corinthians 5:17
You have wonderfully created us, O God, and yet more wonderfully restored the dignity of human nature. Allow us to share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesu...
Genesis 1:1, Psalm 19:1, John 3:16, Matthew 16:16, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 27:24-26, 1 Peter 3:18-19
I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, ...
Luke 1:26-38, Romans 16:25-27, 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 19-26, Luke 1:26-38, Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26, Luke 1:46, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:19, Revelation 11:15, Luke 1:46-48, John 8:41, Luke 1:29, 1 Corinthians 1:23, 1 Corinthians 1:27-29
Advent 2023: Make Some Noise! AIM commentary Ancient lens What's the historical context? Couldn’t See That Coming Powerful parents with a family pedigree derived from Judah and the David...
Luke 1:26-38, Luke 1:46, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:19, Revelation 11:15, Luke 1:46-48, John 8:41, 1 Corinthians 1:23, 1 Corinthians 1:27-29
Ancient lens What's the historical context? Couldn’t See That Coming Powerful parents with a family pedigree derived from Judah and the Davidic line was the common narrative for how most peop...
John 1:1-4, Philippians 2:6-8, Colossians 1:16-17, Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:12, 2 Corinthians 8:9, Luke 2:11-12
He by whom all things were made was made one of all things. The Son of God by the Father without a mother became the Son of man by a mother without a father. The Word Who is God before all time became...
Luke 2:1-7, John 1:14, Luke 1:26-38, Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:22-35, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 2:13-15
The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fic...
Luke 1:26-38, Luke 2:1-7, John 1:14, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:18-25, Matthew 1:1-17, Romans 5:18-19
The nativity mystery “conceived from the Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary”, means, that God became human, truly human out of his own grace. The miracle of the existence of Jesus, his “climbin...
2 Corinthians 4:6, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 11:27, 1 Timothy 3:16, John 14:9, Hebrews 1:1-2
Disguise is central to God's way of dealing with us human beings. Not because God is playing games with us but because the God who is beyond our knowing makes himself known in the disguise of what...
Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23, John 1:14, Philippians 2:6-8, Hebrews 2:14, John 3:16
When he was a young boy, twelfth-century church leader Bernard of Clairvaux fell asleep outside a church while waiting to go in for a Christmas Eve service. In his sleep he had a dream, a kind of visi...
Romans 5:8, Matthew 1:23, Isaiah 7:14, Hebrews 2:14, Colossians 1:19-20, 1 John 4:9-10
Without the incarnation, Christianity isn’t even a very good story, and most sadly, it means nothing. “Be nice to one another” is not a message that can give my life meaning, assure me of love beyond ...